Our 5 year old daughter has been quite a nervous sleeper the past few months. I think it started with the increase in the number of insects and spiders that visit her room since winter turned into Spring. Nobody knows why her room seems to be the favorite for creepy crawlies out of all the rooms in the house, but it is. This has been causing her some anxiety and she often has difficulty falling asleep right away or falling back to sleep if she wakes up in the middle of the night. If there happens to be a spider, even if it is way up tucked into the corner on the ceiling across the room, she will not likely fall asleep until her Dad removes the spider. This is why I thought it would be a great idea to try using this bed tent from CP Toys in our daughter's room.
Of course the Pop-Up Princess Carriage Bed Tent is not really going to protect our daughter from insects and spiders, but it does create a haven for her, in which she feels feels safer. The tent only has one opening at the foot of the bed, which has a Velcro closure at the center and at the bottom corners of the two flaps. Since we put this tent up on her bed, she has not had any problems falling asleep.
(Click any photo to enlarge)
This bed tent is a CP Toys Exclusive. It was very easy to set-up since it is a pop-up tent. After removing it from its zippered nylon storage case, the tent just pops up into the shape of a carriage. The only assembly required is to put the three pieces of the flag together and to slide it into place on the roof of the tent.
The bed tent is secured onto the twin size mattress by elastics that go under the four corners and by a strap that goes around the belly of the mattress and Velcros to the tent underneath the tent's skirt. The tent fits right around the existing bed sheet and bedskirt, so if you ever need to remove the tent, the bed is still made.
It is in the middle of summer currently, so my main concern was about the possibility that our daughter would be too hot sleeping in a tent all night. It turns out that the mesh allowed for plenty of ventilation and she could still feel the air circulating from her ceiling fan.
Our daughter also has plenty of room to sit up in bed and she should be able to use this tent for a few years if she wishes. The only thing she needs to get used to is not being able to reach her nightstand for a book or a sip of water. Maybe for the next one, the product designer can add a little flap or a window on each side of the tent?
I also want to point out that our two sons have also been getting in the tent every chance they get. It's the closest thing they have to a fort and is perfect for various pretend play scenarios. If you happen to have cats, then you may be interested to know that one of our cats has decided that our daughter's pillow inside the bed tent is her new favorite spot . . .
The Pop-Up Princess Carriage Bed Tent retails for $69.99, but is currently on sale for $39.99. It really is a quality item and is both designed and constructed very well. You can find this and other imaginative and educational toys at www.CPToy.com.
Thank you to CP Toys for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon and for providing a second product for our contest prize.
Good luck in the drawing!
